Red Deer Arts Groups Warn Funding Lagging Behind Growth

“This funding intake … basically defunded multiple organizations completely,” said Hermary, executive director of the Red Deer Arts Council. “A 79-year festival [can]not be assured that it's going to have its 80th anniversary.”

Hermary was among the eight signatories to a letter sent to Red Deer's mayor and council outlining their concerns. Chief among the issues are the way grants were judged and the amount of funding available.

She said the cuts will make it difficult for organizations to manage in 2026, and fears some won't survive into the following years. Some applications have been sent back for appeal.

“It's devastating to wake up to an email … and discover that you may no longer have a job. Your community may no longer have any of the services that you have offered them for the past five, six years.

“That what you do is clearly not valued by the community in which you live … it gutted me as a human being and as an artist.… This is my job. And I felt like I'd failed.”

According to a recent report by the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, Canada’s arts and culture sector has grown nearly eight per cent in the last three years, double the national economy’s growth. Three-quarters of Canadians say arts experiences help build a sense of belonging within their communities.

The letter’s concerns

Operating in three-year cycles, the CCDF grant program provides financial support to not-for-profit organizations delivering arts, culture, and heritage initiatives in the community.

The available funding was $445,000 per year. The amount is the same as the last cycle and “has remained steady for a number of years,” said Bobby-Jo Stannard, manager of the city’s Safe & Healthy Communities department.
The difference this year were increases in the number of organizations seeking funding and the amount of money being sought, she said.

The total requested funding in the 2026-28 cycle per year was over $1.1 million dollars — over double the allocated amount. The grant is capped at $30,000 per application.

“We saw a 64 per cent increase in requested funding, and a 38 per cent increase in applications relative to the previous cycle,” said Stannard.

She added that the increase in requests was expected because the city had reached out to more organizations this past year.

“We really tried to reach out to our previously funded organizations through email and social media, as well as provided as much information as we could to new organizations or individuals that might be interested in submitting an application,” she said.
Hermary said the Red Deer Arts Council received $41,000 less than their previous allocation of $91,000. This cycle, they received $50,000 from five applications with a total ask of $150,000. Of those applications, one was fully funded, two partially funded and two rejected.

The council’s 2025 budget was nearly $300,000, with revenues coming from the CCDF grant along with other grants, memberships, sponsorships and donations.

In their letter, officials with various arts and culture organizations acknowledged the city’s financial difficulties, including a previous operating budget deficit of about $20 million, but urged the city to adjust the fund for inflation and population growth.

Red Deer has grown 7.55 percent in the last five years, and is set to see more growth as plans for a hospital expansion are underway to tackle the already booming population.

The arts groups noted that the increase in applications and requested funding demonstrate that the arts and culture scene in Red Deer is growing faster than municipal investment.